Seven leading design and construction organisations are co-signatories for the next edition of The Silent Pandemic whitepaper led by the Society's Special Interest Group BEIPI (Built Environment and Infection Prevention Initiative) exploring how the built environment can help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) and tackle the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The organisations contributing their expertise to the steering group for BEIPI are Arup, Currie & Brown, Laing O’Rourke, Introba, Perkins&Will, P + HS Architects and Sisk.
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All seven companies participated in the inaugural Silent Pandemic workshop in March 2025, which brought together infection prevention specialists and design and construction professionals to examine how hospitals can be designed, built and maintained to reduce infection risks.
The outcomes of that first workshop were captured in the initial Silent Pandemic report - which defined the scale of the problem, highlighted the key challenges and identified priority areas for practical action. This work directly led to the creation of the Built Environment and Infection Prevention Initiative (BEIPI), HIS’s dedicated group to drive collaboration between the infection prevention and built environment sectors. The next whitepaper will build on these foundations, investigating deeper into why the challenges continue to occur and how collaborative working across industries is necessary to tackle them.
HCAIs remain one of the most persistent and costly challenges facing global healthcare systems and are a major driver of AMR, which the World Health Organization has declared as one of the top global public health threats. Preventing infections through smarter design reduces the need for antibiotics and slows the spread of resistant organisms.
"Antimicrobial resistance is already undermining our ability to treat common infections and carry out routine procedures safely," said Manjula Meda, Chair of HIS. "Through BEIPI, we’re bringing infection prevention experts and the construction sector together to ensure the healthcare spaces we build today are fit to protect patients, staff and communities tomorrow."
Tackling antimicrobial resistance in healthcare settings requires a combination of well designed services systems and facilities that can be easily operated and maintained, an excellent cleaning and disinfection regime, attention to gowning / PPE by clinical teams and a focus on hygiene more generally by all hospital users. This is why we are supporting HIS in the creation of the Built Environment and Infection Prevention Initiative as it brings together all stakeholders in support of solving this critical challenge for safe healthcare delivery.
Edith Blennerhassett, Director, Arup
“After participating in the Silent Pandemic Workshop in March 2025 Sisk are delighted to join the steering committee for the Healthcare Infection Society. We look forward to collaborating with other designers and contractors and sharing our extensive healthcare experience to help prevent healthcare-associated infections in the built environment by improving the quality of planning, design, construction and maintenance of healthcare buildings.”
John Bodley-Scott, Senior Design Manager, Sisk
"At P+HS Architects, we believe that thoughtful, evidence-based design has a vital role to play in protecting patients and staff. By working closely with infection prevention specialists, we can create healthcare environments that are not only functional and welcoming, but also actively reduce the risk of infection. We’re proud to contribute to the Built Environment and Infection Prevention Initiative and to collaborate with partners across the sector to address the urgent challenge of antimicrobial resistance."
James Gordon, Associate Director, P+HS Architects